Effectiveness of Two Electrotherapy Techniques to Treat Subacromial Impingement Syndrome

Objective: The investigators aimed to compare the effectiveness of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and interferential currents (IC) to improve shoulder functionality and to reduce perceived pain in patients with subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS). Design: Thirty-six patients with unilateral shoulder pain and diagnosed as having SIS were randomly assigned into two groups: TENS (n=18; 51±7 years) and IC (n=18; 47±6 years). Patients in both groups received fifteen 30-min sessions of the assigned treatment for a period of 3 weeks. Before and after the treatment, shoulder pain was measured using a 100-mm visual analog scale and shoulder functionality was measured using the Constant-Murley scale.